AMD Rolls Out Mobile K6-III

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May 24, 1999 (12:00 AM EDT)

By Marcia Savage ,

Aiming to push higher on the performance scale in the mobilemarket, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Monday launched a version of its K6-III processor for mobile PCs.

The chip maker, based here, is offering the chip, labeled K6-III-P, at clock speeds of 380MHz, 366MHz and 350MHz.

The K6-III-P, the successor to the mobile K6-2 chip, extends AMD's mobile offerings "into the high-performance notebook space," said Dana Krelle, vice president of marketing at AMD. The vendor is hoping the chip will boost its presence in the corporate notebook market.

The chip features AMD's TriLevel Cache design, which includes 256 Kbytes of on-chip Level 2 cache, as well as a 100MHz front-side bus and 3DNow technology for enhanced multimedia performance.

"It's the ultimate processor for high-performance mobile computing," said Martin Booth, product marketing manager for mobile products at AMD.

Teresa Nozick, industry analyst at Mobile Insights Inc., Mountain View, Calif., said AMD has managed to grab market share from Intel Corp. in the value notebook market. "Now they're going after the higher end," she said. "I think it's going to be an uphill battle for them."

Although it will have a tough time battling with Intel, AMD has "a fighting chance" because it has high-quality technology, Nozick said.

AMD-based mobile products made up 30.2 percent of the retail and mail-order market in April, up from 18.5 percent in March and less than 1 percent in April 1998, said Stephen Baker, hardware analyst at PC Data, Reston, Va.

"Certainly products with AMD in the mobile space are not just being shunted aside," he said. "They've got product in the two leading OEMs."

AMD has processors in strong-selling Toshiba and Compaq Presario notebook models, Baker said.

Compaq Computer Corp. executives said they will use the new mobile K6-III-P chip to extend the performance of their Presario mobile PC line. Compaq plans to have systems with the chip later this quarter.

In 1,000-unit quantities, the K6-III-P costs $349, $316, and $249 for the 380MHz, 366MHz and 350MHz versions, respectively.

AMD has been racking up megahertz in the mobile market, topping Intel's fastest mobile processor. Last week, Intel boosted the speed of its mobile Celeron chip to 366MHz and plans this summer to release a 400MHz Pentium II chip, produced on next-generation 0.18-micron process technology.

In the second half of this year, Intel plans to launch a Pentium III chip for mobile PCs with its dual-mode mobile technology, code-named Geyserville. A Pentium III-based notebook, when enabled with Geyserville, is expected to operate at clock speeds of 600MHz or higher when plugged into an AC power source.

AMD will produce a mobile K6-III on 0.18-micron process technology in the second half of the year, Booth said.